Police Officer Involved Domestic Violence.
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Monday, July 13, 2009

Erika Von der Heyde and Gamalier Rivera married in 2002, Erika found her husband's written list of what he would need to kill her in 2005, they divorced and then remarried in 2007. During their most recent divorce proceedings Erika lived in house with other people while increasingly afraid of her husband's mounting anger.

"The day before veteran Border Patrol Agent Gamalier Rivera was arrested in connection with a bloody hatchet attack in a house in Escondido where his estranged wife and daughter were living, a judge ordered that his wages be garnished to pay $2,200 a month in child and spousal support..."

Border Patrol worker arrested after hatchet attackbakersfieldnow.comJul 9, 2009 at 1:49 PM PDTBy Associated Press[Excerpts] A U.S. Border Patrol worker [Gamalier Rivera] has been arrested in Escondido following a hatchet attack that left a couple [Chris Anguiano and girlfriend Samantha Shaffer] seriously injured... The couple was attacked when an assailant broke into their home... The boyfriend is in critical condition. The motive for the attack was not known... [Full article here]

Attack may be case of mistaken IDBorder Patrol employee faces charges in assaultSan Diego Union-TribuneBy Debbi Baker and Jim OkerblomJuly 10, 2009[Excerpts] Police say the hatchet attack in Escondido that left a man in critical condition and his girlfriend injured may have been a case of mistaken identity... Gamalier Reyes Rivera, 32, a Border Patrol employee, was arrested at a nearby 7-Eleven with blood on his clothes... Rivera, who lives in Imperial Beach, may have mistaken the female victim for his estranged wife... Rivera's estranged wife, Erika Von der Heyde, and their 7-year-old daughter lived in the house, but neither was involved in the attack. In April 2005, Von der Heyde, 33, accused Rivera of writing a list of things he would need to kill her, including gloves, a plastic bag for her body and weights to sink the bag, according to court records in their divorce. Police seized the list and she was granted a three-year restraining order... Police said the male victim was struck several times in the neck and torso, and his girlfriend was wounded on her legs. Both victims are nurses, and the woman rented a room at the house, said her sister, Cassandra Bollas. Bollas said her sister didn't know the assailant, who came into her bedroom and immediately attacked her boyfriend. She said her sister screamed until a housemate ordered the attacker to leave. Police said six or seven people live in the house. Bollas said her sister, who was treated at a hospital and released, described a scene out of a horror movie, saying “the entire room was covered in blood”... Court records show a series of divorce and restraining order filings between Rivera and Von der Heyde that continued into last month. In July 2005, two months after the restraining order against Rivera was issued, it was dismissed while divorce proceedings continued. The couple subsequently remarried. On Feb. 5, 2009, Rivera requested a restraining order against Von der Heyde, alleging she had abused their daughter. It said she was a citizen of Venezuela and had visas for Peru and Germany, and asked that she be prohibited from leaving the country with the child. Judge Tamila Ipema denied the request. In April, Ipema ordered Rivera to pay child and spousal support. The court file does not indicate if he was granted any visitation. [Full article here]SHORT TITLE: TERON V. RIVERACASE NUMBER: DS28615I ERIKA VON DER HEYDE TERAN HEREBY DECLARE UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY - 4/25/2005 - RESPONDENT IS MY HUSBAND AND WE HAVE [LIVED] TOGETHER FOR ABOUT FIVE AND YEARS AND BEEN MARRIED FOR THREE. ON THIS MORNING WE WERE FIGHTING ABOUT MY DAUGHTER'S BIRTHDAY AND MY FAMILY COMING TO STAY WITH US. WE ARGUED AND HE LEFT. I WENT IN HIS ROOM TO GET SOME PAPERS OUT AND I SAW A LIST. I STARTED READING THE LIST ONLY TO DISCOVER IT WAS RESPONDENT'S PLANS TO KILL ME. IT LISTED STEPS ABOUT WHAT HE NEEDED TO BUY, GLOVES, PLASTIC TRASH BAG, WEIGHTS. THAT HE NEEDED TO FIND A DARK PLACE WITH NO CARS, AND THEN DESCRIBED HOW HE WOULD PUT MY BODY IN THE BAG, WEIGH IT DOWN AND DESTROY THE EVIDENCE. IT EVEN SAID HOW HE WOULD ACT ONCE I WAS MISSING, REALLY MAD. I CALLED THE POLICE AND THEY TOOK THE LETTER. THE REPORT #05-024925. I AM VERY FRIGHTENED AND THE ONLY TIME I HAVE EVER SEEN HIM MAKE A LIST HE HAS FOLLOWED THROUGH ON EVERYTHING ON THE LIST. I NEED AN ORDER OF PROTECTION FOR MY DAUGHTER AND I, AND TO MAKE SURE HIS WEAPONS ARE TAKEN AWAY.SIGNED: [SIGNATURE]DATE: 4/25/2005

Read Chilling Details in TRO Granted to Wife of Hatchet Attackersandiego6.comLynn StuartLast Update: 7/10 5:09 pm[Excerpts] In April of 2005, the wife of a U.S. border patrol employee charged in a brutal hatchet attack was granted a temporary restraining order against her husband. In it, Erika Von Der Heyde Teran states that she and her husband, Gamalier Rivera, fought over having relatives stay at the house during a visit. After the fight, Erika discovered a list written by her husband in which he detailed how he planned to murder her and dispose of the body... Investigators were called to a bloody crime scene just after 1 a.m. Thursday morning. Now a U.S. Border Patrol employee, Gamalier Rivera, is accused of trying to hack a couple to death in their own home... Investigators aren't sure how Rivera got into the house... Rivera will be charged with a least two counts of attempted homicide. [Full article here]Hatchet attack suspect faced pay garnishmentSan Diego Union-TribuneBy Kristina DavisJuly 11, 2009[Excerpts] The day before veteran Border Patrol Agent Gamalier Rivera was arrested in connection with a bloody hatchet attack in a house in Escondido where his estranged wife and daughter were living, a judge ordered that his wages be garnished to pay $2,200 a month in child and spousal support... The 29-year-old male victim, who police have not identified, remained in critical condition but was stabilizing by Friday afternoon. The woman was treated and released for leg injuries. Rivera's wife, Erika Von der Heyde, and their 7-year-old daughter were in another room of the house and were not injured, Escondido police Lt. Bob Benton said. Investigators are still trying to determine if Von der Heyde was the intended target. In a court document filed in April, Von der Heyde said Rivera was growing angry about their divorce. “Unfortunately, I believe Gamalier has let his anger over our pending divorce and the financial obligations that come along with that cloud his judgment... In fact, Gamalier recently told me that he was going to quit his job and get a job making minimum wage, telling me that I would never get money from him”... According to court records, Rivera earns about $104,400 annually. He joined the Border Patrol in 2003 after marrying his wife for the first time in 2002. They met in Venezuela, her home country, while she worked for the U.S. Embassy and he was in the Marine Corps. Wednesday's court order was the latest development in their two bitter divorce cases... Van der Heyde also said Rivera “seems to be addicted to watching pornography on the Internet,” and court records say the computer was seized and there was an investigations “by law enforcement and possibly by internal affairs at the Border Patrol”... Two months later, the order was dismissed while divorce proceedings continued. The couple remarried in Nevada in August 2007 and co-own the Imperial Beach condo, according to records... [Full article here][police officer involved domestic violence law enforcement fatality fatalities murder abuse united states federal brutal california]

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BORDER AGENT'S EX-WIFE TESTIFIES IN HATCHET ATTACK CASE: Gamalier Rivera Accused In Attack That Injured Chris Anguiano10news.comJanuary 27, 2011[Excerpts] The former wife of a U.S. Border Patrol agent accused in an attack that left one person blind testified Thursday about what she heard and saw that night. Prosecutors believe Erika Von der Heyde was the intended victim of a hatchet attack in Escondido in 2009 that severely injured Chris Anguiano. Prosecutors said Gamalier Rivera carried out the assault... Five blocks away at a 7-Eleven store, police had detained a man wearing a bloody shirt. Von der Heyde was driven over in a patrol car to participate in a curbstone lineup where she said, "I was able to recognize my ex-husband." Escondido police officer Lawrence Love said he drove as close as he could. "[I] tried to get my lights in the possible suspect's face. I pulled forward. At that point, she became hysterical in the back of my patrol vehicle," said Love. He said he was shocked at her reaction. "She continued to be hysterical. 'That's my husband. My husband's a Border Patrol agent. Oh my God, he came to kill me,'" said Love. Six years ago, Von der Heyde called police after finding a note in her husband's handwriting titled "Getting Rid of the Wasted." She read the note aloud: "'Three: Snap it, rope it, bag it, dump it. Leave no prints … bag her purse, cell phone, clothes.' This is in parentheses. 'Make it look like she walked out'"... [Full article here]

BORDER PATROL AGENT ACCUSED IN HATCHET ATTACK TESTIFIES: Gamalier Rivera, 34, Says He Never Meant To Hurt Anyone10news.comJanuary 31, 2011[Excerpts] A border patrol agent on trial accused of attacking two people with a hatchet in Escondido told the jury on Monday he didn't mean to hurt anyone. Gamalier Rivera, 34, took the stand on Monday in his own defense. Rivera testified his estranged wife, Erika Von der Hyde, was afraid of horror movies so he decided to scare her by sneaking into her bedroom late at night and waving two hatchets at her... "I thought if I was going to threaten her, this is what I was going to do it with." Rivera told the court he became frustrated when Von der Hyde took their 7-year-old daughter Veronica to Escondido and refused to let him see her as often as he wanted. "In my mind, it was simple: just a quick threat and I would get out," said Rivera, who also said he wore a dark hooded sweatshirt to conceal his identity. "My plan was to tell her, 'stop playing games with Veronica Rivera' and if she noticed it was me, I would deny it, but if she didn't, it would be even better." Rivera said he took a taxi from his home in Imperial Beach to the house in Escondido where Von der Hyde and his daughter were living with Von der Hyde's new boyfriend. He said he snuck into the house through a partially open back door and tiptoed to a bedroom where he thought Von der Hyde and her boyfriend were sleeping... "I had hatchets in my house. As a border patrol agent, I work a lot in rough terrain and heavy brush areas," he said, saying he painted the hatchets black to match his uniform. During the cross examination, Rivera became defensive when the prosecutor asked him why he wrote a letter in 2005 that looked like a plan to kill his estranged wife. The letter, which was written after an argument between Rivera and Von der Hyde, was entitled, "Getting Rid of The Wasted" and appears similar to a to-do list. Number 3 on that list read, "Snap it. Rope it. Bag it. Dump it. Leave no prints." Rivera said he wrote it out of anger and frustration but it was not a plan to hurt his estranged wife. In another twist of events, the judge on Monday dropped two charges of attempted murder and replaced them with charges of assault with a deadly weapon... [Full article here]

MAN WHO ATTACKED WRONG COUPLE WITH HATCHETS SENTENCED: Gamalier Rivera, 34, Intended To Attack His Ex-Wife, Her New Boyfriend But Mistakenly Attacked Roommates10news.comMarch 29, 2011[Excerpts] A former Border Patrol agent who botched a plan to kill his estranged wife and mistakenly attacked two of her roommates with a hatchet was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years to life in prison. Gamalier Reyes Rivera, 34, was convicted last month of premeditated attempted murder, aggravated mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon and burglary. Jurors acquitted him of torture. Judge Runston Maino did the sentencing in Vista. Maino called it "more than an explosion of violence" and that it showed a sophistication of planning and that he went to Escondido with the intention of killing these people. He said Rivera "left a trail of devastation" and prison is "the price you have to pay"... [Chris] ... [Full article here]

ESCONDIDO: JURY FINDS EX-BORDER PATROL AGENT GUILTY OF ATTEMPTED MURDERNorth County TimesBy Teri FigueroaFebruary 2, 2011[Excerpts] ...Gamalier Reyes Rivera, 34, sat motionless and had no visible reaction to the verdict... According to testimony during the weeklong trial at the Vista Courthouse, Chris Anguiano and girlfriend Samantha Shaffer woke up to an intruder, later identified as Rivera. Before Anguiano could get out of bed, Rivera repeatedly chopped him, making deep cuts to Anguiano's face, neck, chest and back. Shaffer also suffered serious wounds to her legs, and the tip of her big toe was sheared off... But the jury acquitted Rivera on two counts that the attack on the couple met the legal criteria for torture. And on hearing the words "not guilty" as to the attack on him, Anguiano loudly whispered an expletive in the otherwise quiet courtroom. The attack left Anguiano, now 31, in a coma for two months. He is now blind and suffers some brain damage. "Honestly, I was really disappointed. I was like, 'look at my body,'" Anguiano said after the hearing... But, he said, he was buoyed by the jury's finding that Rivera had committed not only attempted murder, but that Rivera had premeditated the action - which increased the sentence to one that could keep Rivera in prison for life... With the trial behind him, Anguiano ---- formerly employed as a nurse's assistant ---- said he will head back to his temporary home at a school for the blind in Los Angeles. He said he remains haunted by the horror of waking up to a hatchet attack. "If he (Rivera) sees this on TV in his cell, I want him to know that he changed my life forever," Anguiano said. "I'm gonna show people you can get your life back. But for him, his life is over"... [Full article here]

EX-BORDER PATROL AGENT GETS LIFE IN HATCHET ATTACKUnion-TribuneBy Dana Littlefield, March 29, 2011 at 4:26 p.m.[Excerpts] ...Gamalier Reyes Rivera, 34, was convicted in February of premeditated attempted murder and other charges in connection with the July 2009 attack, which left Chris Anguiano and his then-girlfriend, Samantha Shaffer, with multiple injuries. Both survived. Anguiano suffered the most serious injuries. Now 31, he is blind and has brain damage that affects his motor skills... Several people spoke glowingly of Anguiano and the perseverance he demonstrated as he worked to function without sight and improve the movement of his limbs... Anguiano’s parents asked the judge to show Rivera no leniency. “I cannot forgive you,” said Kiyoko Anguiano, who cried as she spoke of the defendant “hacking” at her son. “I want you to stay in prison for the rest of your life.” The victim’s father, Santos Anguiano, called Rivera a disgrace to his former colleagues in law enforcement and the Marine Corps. He then helped his son walk slowly to the podium. “I had a lot of dreams,” said Chris Anguiano, who has a long scar on his left cheek where he was struck with the hatchet. “I was supposed to be the one to take care of my parents, not them (taking) care of me. You will pay for what you did. May God be with you,” he continued. “That’s all you have left. You’re nothing but a number”... Rivera, who at one point during the sentencing hearing wiped tears from his eyes, apologized in court to Anguiano and his family. He said he was “extremely remorseful” for what happened to both victims, but denied he ever intended to hurt anyone. “I never had a target that night...,” Rivera said. “I had a bad plan that went from bad to worse and I have to live with that for the rest of my life." In addition to the attempted murder charges, a jury also found Rivera guilty of two counts of aggravated mayhem, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and burglary. He was acquitted of torture charges on Anguiano and Shaffer. On Tuesday, the judge sentenced Rivera to four consecutive terms of life in prison, plus two years for using the weapon in the attacks. He will have to serve at least 30 years before he is eligible for parole... [Full article here]